


Growing to Love

by Slytherinkenna



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Jealous Liam, Jealous Theo Raeken, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Liam, Pining Theo Raeken, Slow Burn, like really slow burn, maybe sumt idk, nothing illegal though, slight age gap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-07-29 00:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16253120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherinkenna/pseuds/Slytherinkenna
Summary: Liam's life was great, has been great ever since David came into it. He had good parents, friends, and the cutes little sister, Liam thought nothing could go wrong. Then Liam turned 10, and developed a crush. Not on just anyone, and not on a girl, but on Theo. That's when his life started spiraling._Liam and Theo grew up next door to each other, well two houses down but whatever, and were always assumed to have a sibling type of relationship. Well one of them has a crush and the other one is a bit older and protective. See where this is going?





	1. The Beginning

Liam's dad left before he was born. He obviously never knew the guy, so it never really mattered to him. Of course, he asked the usual questions like 'where is he?' and 'why did he leave?' but overall, he was just glad to have his mom. When he started 3-year-old pre-school though, everyone thought he was weird. They called him the "no dad kid", and being the confused 3-year-old he was and being called this made him immediately hate the question mark that was his father. Then while he was in 4-year-old pre-school, his mom met David. They dated and He met Liam, he moved in and eventually they got married. Liam was so excited to be the ring bearer, but he was even more excited to call David dad, because that was what this was to Liam, finally getting a dad.

What Liam was not ready for was, during his fifth birthday party, to find out he's going to be a big brother. He was happy though, for his parents, but for a while there was this small feeling in his gut that David was going to love this baby more than Liam. He never told them though, kept it to himself till fall, till the day she was born. Little Grace Geyer was born and Liam no longer cared if David loved Grace more than him, because Liam loved Grace more than he's ever loved anything. Little five-year-old Liam, while crying his eyes out realized two things. One, that he really needed a haircut, and two that if anything were to happen to this little person he's currently holding as if she was glass, he would be upset. 

If this new infant entering his life wasn't enough, the family that lives about to houses down just had a daughter about a month ago. Somehow the Raeken family weaved their way into Liam and his family's life, but it wasn't just because of the babies, they had an older son as well. His name was Theo and he was 5 years older than Liam, but that didn't stop the younger boy to try his hardest to befriend this new kid. Besides, it would be cool to have a fifth grader as a friend. 

Theo was cool, when he wasn't acting all mean. Theo's parents had forced him to entertain Liam when his parents needed to focuses on Grace. Of course, this was all kept from Liam to spare his feelings, but when a five-year-old Liam started going off about Spider-Man and why he was the best superhero, Theo sat and discussed the topic with Liam arguing that Superman was better. They became close after a while, them and their families to the point where carpooling to and from school was an everyday occurrence. And befriending a fifth grader was cool, at least all the kids in his class thought so.

The bonus of befriending Theo was that he had introduced him to a boy whose grandparents lived down the street. The boy, Mason, doesn't actually live there but spends time over there when his mom is at work. The moment Mason and Liam met, they knew they were going to be best friends. Liam had been playing in the sprinkler in the front yard, doing weird jumps through the water to make Grace laugh, when Theo came walking over with younger boy Liam had never met before. He was darker skin with brown eyes, but the first thing Liam noticed was his shirt.

"Oh, you like Star Wars! Luke is so cool!" Liam had screamed, completely forgetting to introduce himself or even say hello. Theo had laughed but Mason was already jumping up and down, franticly saying how he could never pick between Luke and Han. The rest of the day was spent running through the sprinkler and the two boys stayed for dinner and watched A New Hope.

Liam's life was great, has been great ever since David came into it. He had good parents, friends, and the cutes little sister, Liam thought nothing could go wrong. Then Liam turned 10, and developed a crush. Not on just anyone, and not on a girl, but on Theo. That's when his life started spiraling.


	2. The Crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I probably should have said this in the first chapter but this fic is based off of my life?? Um yeah I just thought this...part of my life would make a good fic?? So feel free to still critic the story because I'll probably agree lol, and things were obviously changed to fit these characters so if you want you can ask what actually went down but I may not answer:) 
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoy!! please comment they make my day!!!

Puberty hit Theo hard, with a truck seemingly overnight. One-minute Liam looked at Theo and saw the kid who lived down the street, who had asthma, with thin arms and legs, who wore superhero shirts every day and liked to tease Liam about the holes in his mouth where his baby teeth used to be. Now? Now Theo was the tall freshman with a ripped body, asthma now gone with what his parents call a miracle, football player who during summer wears tank tops with the sides cut all the way down to the hem. Now his eyes are not green, they are a forest green with hints of sky blue, his hair is now amber not brown. Liam feels like he's going to die every time Theo teases him now because the brother label no longer works, it feels weird now, but Liam can't find the right label for Theo. Friend isn't enough, best friend goes to Mason, and they aren't family because it's just...weird.

"What do you think, Mas?" Liam sighed, hanging upside down on his bed, face getting redder by the minute. Mason, who was seated on the floor, was quiet for a moment taking in all the information. Liam couldn't sit in silence anymore, he had to tell someone about this change in Theo and how it was affecting him.

"Do you think you have a crush on him?" Mason asked innocently, not meaning for the question to cause Liam to choke on air. 

"No! Of course not! It's Theo, obviously I don't like him. Besides I don't think I'm gay." Liam explains, having sat up after choking on nothing. Don't get him wrong, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Mason was gay! And how did Mason find out? By kissing Liam. It was quick, harmless and Mason had said it was "to see if I like kissing a guy" to which he said he did. Now, Mason hasn't ever kissed a girl so they don't know for sure but it's pretty likely.

"Maybe you're bisexual." Mason shrugged, and Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Bisexual?"

"It means you like both guys and girls." Mason smiled, seaming happy to help Liam figure out his problem. Liam on the other hand was not letting it get to this.

"Well, I'm only 10. I don't need to know this stuff yet. But I can tell you this, I don't have a crush on Theo."

-

Summer was always great even if they didn't go on big, expensive vacations. They but up their pool, plug in the radio, pulled out the popsicles and swam the days away. Grace and Theo's little sister, Tara, were five now and inseparable. Liam and Theo's parents were good friends as well, at this point it was weird to see one family without the other. So, nine time out of ten the Raeken family would come over as well, Liam would run over and hope Mason was at his Grandparents and if he was Mason would join the fun.

This summer was no different, Grace and Tara were paddling around the pool in their water wings, the parents were on the patio, David and Mr. Raeken grilling and Liam and Theo's moms were tanning on some lawn chairs. Liam and Mason were taking turns doing handstands under water and Theo was still missing from the fun. His mom said he was playing a video game or something and would be down later. Liam didn't mind, of course he was upset but wasn't that upset. It was just that they were having fun and he didn't want Theo to miss out, that's all. 

“Hey Mason, watch this.” Liam shouted, and dove under the water. He placed his hands on the floor of the pool and pushed his legs out into the air. This might be his best underwater handstand yet, but it was all ruined when a pair of hands wrapped around Liam’s ankles and pushed him over. At this unexpected feeling, Liam gasped, sucking water into his lungs and burning his throat. Liam quickly got his feet on the pool floor and stood up, taking a deep breath as he shot up from under the water. As Liam began coughing up chlorine infused water, He heard laughter coming from two people to his left. Looking over Liam saw Mason covering his mouth trying to hide his obvious laughter, and Theo was almost in tears.

“Theo!” Liam yelled, feeling the anger burn in his chest, or that could be from the water. Theo held his arms up in defense, still giggling too much to speak. Liam growled and cupped his hands together, dipped them in the water and pushed a wave of water towards the oldest boy. Theo gasped as the water hit him, an extra wave hit him as Mason quickly dove out of the way of the splash Liam made, which made the blonde smile. 

“Liam! I’m not in a swimsuit!” Theo screamed, stepping back and pulling his shirt out away from his torso. Liam was pleased with himself, revenge feeling sweet, especially since the girls were giggling at Theo to. That feeling quickly passed as Liam watched as Theo started to take his shirt off. He quickly looked away from his older friend feeling a warmth spread across his face. Why did Liam look away? He’s seen Theo shirtless before, that’s how he knows the boy has been working out. Liam shook his head, turning back towards the other two, determined not to let this get to him. Theo pulled the shirt over his head, exposing is torso, and shook his hair in an attempt to get the water to stop dripping. Liam bit the inside of his cheek, trying to stop himself from staring for too long.

“Guess I’ll go put my suit on.” Theo grumbled, snapping Liam from the trance he didn’t realize he was even in. 

“I don’t know why you came over without it.” Mason laughs, and Theo rolls his eyes before walking away. Liam let out a breath, and slowly sank beneath the water until just his head showed. Mason swam toward him, and raised an eyebrow at Liam’s strange behaver. Before Mason could say anything, something passed the corner of Liam’s and then there was a big wave. Everyone in the pool was taken by surprised, the girls squealed and both boys turned before the water hit their faces. He heard that familiar laugh again, he turned so he faced Theo as said boy was right in front of him. Liam felt his heart start beating faster at the sight of Theo goofy smile and his wet hair in a weird angel.

“How did you change that fast?” Mason asked, completely forgetting about Liam’s weird mood change, to Liam’s pleaser.

“I brought my swimsuit here I just didn’t have it on.” Theo smiled making Liam roll his eyes, but tense up more as the boy stood up in the water showing his torso. Liam needed to go, his heart was beating too fast and his breathing was picking up. If he stayed here, in front of Theo while he’s feeling like this, he didn’t know what would happen and it freaked him out, a lot.

“I’ll be right back, gotta use the restroom.” Liam mumbled before quickly hopping out of the pool, grabbing his towel and running inside. While wrapping his towel around his waist, Liam made his way to the bathroom, slipping once or twice in the process. After finally making it he shut and locked the door. Liam placed his hands on each side of the sink before taking slow deep breaths, he closed his eyes and tried to think of anything other than Theo shirtless. Why can’t he get that image out of his head? He’s seen Theo shirtless before so why was it so different this time?

Liam’s mind wandered back to his early conversation with Mason and sighs, feeling defeated, frustrated and confused. Was Mason, right? Did Liam have a crush on Theo? No that’s- no he couldn’t, he shouldn’t. 

Liam still felt weird and flustered and had this really weird feeling in his stomach. He looked down, intending to look at his stomach, but then he saw that his swim shorts were tighter than normal. Liam slowly dipped his thumb under the waistband and pulled them away from his body. 

He immediately knew two things. One, he’s hit a new stage of puberty. Two, he definitely has a crush on Theo


End file.
